With temperatures reaching above 90 de­grees during the entire training exercise, the most important thing for the paratroopers to do was to stay hydrated.

The source of water that kept these para­troopers properly hy­drated came from Fort Bragg’s own Holland L ake.

Soldiers assigned to the 82nd Brigade Sup­port Battalion pumped water from the lake to put it through a purifi­cation process to supply

the high demand of drinking water during this long and extremely hot exercise.

“We are provid­ing 12,000 gallons of drinkable water per day, but we can produce up to 30,000 (gallons)” said Pfc. Bryan Trammell, a water treatment special­ist with Company A, 82nd BSB.

“Once we establish a source of water, we can have all of our equip­ment set up in an hour,” said Sgt. Michael Lee, the brigade senior water treatment specialist assigned to Company A, 82nd BSB. “When everything is up and running, we can pro­duce 1,500 gallons of water per hour.”

Completing the purification process does not mean that the water is ready to

be consumed. The water must be tested to ensure that it is free of bacteria and safe to drink.

“I test the water and make sure that it is safe for consumption before it is distributed throughout the brigade,” said Sgt. Arielle Davenport, a preventive medicine specialist with Company C, 82nd BSB.

“I measure the level of chlorine in the water,” Davenport said. “You want to make sure that you have enough to kill off any germs but you want to make sure that you don’t have too much. Too much can hurt somebody.”

Trammell said they are providing water for the

entire brigade as well as other support elements that include: 18th Fires Brigade, the Combat Aviation Brigade and 4th Brigade Combat Team.

“Making sure that water is safe is a big

responsibility,” said Dav­enport. “I take my job very serious.”

“We can purify water from anywhere in the world with the exception of the Dead Sea and The Great Salt Lake,” said Lee.